Abstract:
Cylindrical molecules of carbon known as nanotubes are the strongest material known, and scientists have now spun yards of thread made of almost 100 percent nanotube. In the future, these threads could be woven into fabrics that stop bullets or be wound into cables many times as strong as steel. For now, though, the threads are less than the sum of their nanotube parts. "There are still defects," said Dr. Matteo Pasquali, a professor of chemical engineering at Rice University and head of the research team there that spun the threads.